


The days after Sicily landing

by carraville



Series: what actually happened [4]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Historical References, Out of Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-11
Updated: 2019-04-11
Packaged: 2020-01-11 18:05:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18429302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carraville/pseuds/carraville
Summary: The guerrillas represented by Feli were spontaneously organized and developed by small parties. They had no approval of the King and no substantial support by the Allies, but all the good things that happened in post-war Italy came out of this movement.The so-called orthodox government in the south was hastily formed after Mussolini's fall, led by a cowardly King desperate to live, hiding under the wings of the Allies. The northern guerrillas were organized by the brave people of Italy, not relying on any external forces, only motivated by their  love for the country, digging the way of a peaceful future for Italy.Only the latter is worthy of being remembered forever by history.





	The days after Sicily landing

**Author's Note:**

> The references for this part: A Short History of Italy ( H.Hearder, D. P. Waley): Chapter 7 (modern Italy), part 5 (war, peace and constitution). The Pope and Mussolini (David I. Kertzer): Chapter 29 (running to disaster). Mafia e Politica (Michele Pantaleone): Chapter 5 (the mystery of the kerchief).
> 
> WW ii. A heavy chapter. This chapter is divided into three parts, whose main characters respectively are Lovi, Feli and Gil. In the third part, though there is no problem with the historical data and background, my descriptions about Gilbert were basically personal fantasy, so he’s seriously ooc!! And it includes slightly Prussia→Romano, so please be caution reading the third part.

In early August 1943, Mussolini, who entrusted Italy to Germany and left millions of Italian mothers without sons, had lost the trust of the people and even his own party and been imprisoned.

The interim government in Rome was in complete shambles. Italy, not knowing his boss had changed, was still fighting alongside Germany on the eastern front. There were German troops everywhere throughout Italy. It must be difficult for Rome's new government to get rid of German’s control. They even hesitated if they should resist Germany right now. But it was at least clear to them that they could not choose to go the old way of Mussolini.

That’s why Italy's new leader, general Badoglio, would secretly sent Romano to Sicily to help the Allies and, more importantly, to enlist their support. Yes, in order to drive out the invaders, Italy had to seek for the help of outsiders again.

“Why should I go?” the timid Romano protested fiercely, “God knows how they’re gonna torture me!”

“Who knows Sicily better than you do?!The Allies will be glad that you’re willing to help them.” Badoglio replied seriously, “Besides, Your brother is still fighting on the front lines with the Germans. You're the only one in the country. Who can go if you won’t go? We have no support. We can't speak out against the Germans now.”

“But, but...” but ‘I’m afraid’ was the inner cry of Lovi.

“Listen, Romano,” Said general Badoglio, looking more seriously at Romano, “You don't want those Germans to ruin your beloved southern Italy, do you? You don't want to see more of your people slaughtered, do you? If you want to end everything happening now as soon as possible, you should do as I told you. End this bloody war! Even if you have to work with people you hate; even if you have to grovel to them like a servant; even if later you'll be ridiculed for ‘surrendering to the Allies so easily’. You have to do it! Also, no matter how much you want to cry then, you can only cry in bed at night.”

Romano eventually accepted his boss's assignment. He sneaked back to Sicily and found his former American boss, Alfred.

When Romano’s boss told him he had to work with people he hated, he was referring to Al and Arthur. What his boss did not anticipate was that Romano would also have to cooperate with the Mafia. You know, Romano hates the Mafia to the utmost degree. These people are the cancer of his land, the reason his people must live in fear. Before Alfred introduced him to Luciano, the person who had done ‘so much’ for the allied landing in Sicily, Romano had no idea he was working with the Mafia.

Luciano greeted Romano in Sicilian English. At first, Romano, not knowing the background of Luciano, thought this guy was one of his people who went to live in the United States, so he happily shook hands with Luciano, and even talked with him in Sicilian.

But as the conversation progressed, Romano quickly learned who this guy really was. Because Luciano proudly boasted his secret relationship with the Sicily’s most notorious---Don Carlos. He didn’t even try to hide his ‘glorious’ past, as if it were something to be complacent about.

Luciano did all the wrong things in the US, and the government eventually succeeded in arresting him. But because of the war needs, in view of this man's close ties to the Mafia in hometown Sicily can pave the way for the allied occupation of Italy, the US decided to assigned this man as the the general manager of Sicily landing, and also promised that after the victory his past culpability can be written off.

When Romano learned the truth, he felt sick. To end this fucking war, he had to work with his people's worst enemies---the damn Mafia! But he remembered what his boss said: even if he was about to cry, it can only happen when no one was around.

After Luciano had left, Al said to Lovi with a guilty look: “I'm sorry, I know how much you hate them, but they really helped us a lot. Come to think of it, why did the people of Sicily surrender to us without much resistance? Because someone told them to. And here, except the Mafia, who else has such a deterrent effect.”

“Badoglio couldn’t figure it out before. How would Mr. America have chosen a remote place like Sicily as your landing point? He thought you had made a wrong estimate. Because landing in Sicily, your troops will have to advance from the south all the way to the north; but if landing in Sardinia, where the defenses are weak, you can break through from the middle to the both sides, which is better than Sicily anyway. Well, what he didn't expect is that you have planted agents here...”

“I know how much you hate our decision, but my boss thinks it will ensure victory with minimal casualties.” Al explained, trying to unload Lovi's defenses against him, “And stop calling me mister, you used to call me numbnut or something.”

“I was wrong,” Romano responded in horror, “Please forgive me, Mr. America...”

Finding out that Lovi refused to change this attitude towards him, Al gave up his attempt.

With the help of Romano and the Mafia, the Allies soon took complete control of Sicily. In many  battles, although the Italians had the courage to fight the Allies in the beginning, they lay down their arms most of the time after Romano talked to them.

On September 8 of the same year, Lovi's boss, Badoglio, and Al's boss, Eisenhower, signed a formal armistice. The king's government finally dared to declare war on Germany, though they fled unseemly from Rome to Brindisi in the south (controlled by the Allies) and made it their new capital, leaving the Italian army in the north behind.

After that, the Germans quickly occupied the northern cities and Rome, rescued Mussolini and established a puppet regime in the north. And then, a bloody civil war had began in the Apennines.

****

After the king declared war on Germany, Feli, who was on the front line, finally learned of the upheaval in his country. He followed the German army, who rushed to occupy the northern Italy, to return home together, and met his old boss Mussolini in Salo.

At first Feli couldn't decide if he should sneak south to find the king and his brother, leaving his people of the north behind. But he was outraged that the king had run away to protect himself, leaving the northern army leaderless, and his friendship with Ludwig also made him reluctant to betray. Moreover, Mussolini was always demagogic near his ear. Mussolini said allied planes killed thousands of people in Rome and destroyed the holy city, which was not a lie though. He also made fun of Romano and his people for how weak they were, throwing themselves on the Allies who came to take their land. Those words clearly also had an impact on Feli.

After all aspects of consideration, Feli didn’t immediately defect.

It wasn't until mid-October 1943, when Feli was stopped in a hotel bathroom by a secret agent, and received the information from him that Feli changed his mind.

This secret agent was Pali, the leader of the northern anti-fascist guerrillas. In the near future he would be Italy's interim boss.

“Mr. Italy, what are you doing now?” Pali whispered to Feli in the bathroom stall, “You're on the wrong side of your own people, you know?”

“I don't understand.” Feli wondered, “I don't even know who you are.”

“I'm a member of northern underground action party. I risked coming to find you for asking you to stand by us. You should stand by us!” 

“Why is that? You're just an underground party without government’s approval.”

“Let me just reason you with evidence.” Pali took a folder out of his heavy overcoat and let Feli open it, “This is information gleaned from our intelligence network. You've been working with the Germans, but you never knew what they were doing behind your back, did you?”

What Feli was holding were pictures of concentration camps across the north. These dreadful pictures were indeed the last secret the Germans wanted to reveal.

Feli didn't read a few of them before he couldn’t stand them anymore. He stared at Pali in disbelief.

Pali looked at Feli understandingly: “Right now, The German army has completely encircled the Jewish ghetto in Rome. Mr. Italy, there are over 7,000 Jews in Rome. They're Jews, but they're also your people. They will soon be sent to concentration camps in the north, and you are still fraternizing with the demons who are about to destroy their lives. Come to us, Mr. Italy, we need your support!”

On the night after meeting Pali, Feli left Ludwig a letter and sneaked away. In the letter, Feli detailed Lud the reasons for his escape. He apologized to Lud for being a deserter again, but this time, he immediately stressed, he believed he had made the right choice.

Feli had since been working with northern Italian guerrillas and the pap. The northern guerrillas had been in close contact with the Allies. While the Allies advanced northward through one Shuraba after another, the northern guerrillas also liberated Milan, Genoa and Turin alone.

The guerrillas represented by Feli were spontaneously organized and developed by small parties. They had no approval of the King and no substantial support by the Allies, but all the good things that happened in post-war Italy came out of this movement.

The so-called orthodox government in the south was hastily formed after Mussolini's fall, led by a cowardly King desperate to live, hiding under the wings of the Allies. The northern guerrillas were organized by the brave people of Italy, not relying on any external forces, only motivated by their  love for the country, digging the way of a peaceful future for Italy.

Only the latter is worthy of being remembered forever by history.  

****

On October 16, 1943, the German army surrounded the ghetto in Rome and searched the city for Jews. There were more than 7,000 Jews in Rome. Although most of them escaped, still more than 1,000 were captured. They were held in a house near the Vatican, helplessly awaiting their fate.

When the Germans occupied Rome in early September, Gilbert followed Ludwig to come. He said he wanted to help his brother, but he really just wanted to come to Rome.

At this time, the Vatican did not openly against the Germans, and even had a tendency to curry favor with them. Besides, in their doctrine Jews’ reputation was never quite good. For what the Germans had done to Italian Jews, although from the standpoint of compassion, the church people did not fully agree, when they were asked about their attitude by Lud's boss, the church leaders said a lot of preaching and then sat by.

Since the church did not resist the Germans, it was very easy for Germans to get into the Vatican. Gil took the opportunity to see the holy see, whom he had not seen for a long time.

Therefore, when Gil entered the simple room of the holy see, his face was full of joy.

“Long time no see! Lord holy see.” Gil reflexively knelt on one knee and greeted the holy see as he did when he was a child.

The holy see turned and looked down at him with a gloomy face: “Just get up. As who you are today, it's not a proper thing for you to do, is it?”

Gil stood up and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. He happily said: “Lord holy see, you can rest assured. Now that we have Rome in our hands, we will push further south and soon be able to save Romano from the Allies!”

“He doesn't need you to save him.” The holy see said coldly.

Only now did Gil realize that the holy see was in a bad mood. He restrained his expression and  ask with concern: “Holy see, is something bothering you? Can I do anything for you?”

“Hum, don't bother. You can't solve it.”

“You can tell me, I might help...”

“You can't solve it! Because---” the holy see interrupted Gil, “You are the source of my trouble!”

Gil froze, standing still.

“Look what we have done!” the holy see became quite agitated, “How foolish we were! No, how foolish I was to have chosen to trust Mussolini!! This man, he has sent Italy to hell! I don’t dare to go to sleep every night, because I'm afraid God will condemn me in my dream! Those Jews who were kept nearby...Mothers soothed their crying children and prayed in their hearts that God would see them through. After the issue of Mussolini's race act, there were more than six thousand Jews converting to Christianity in Italy, because they believed that the church could help them avoid this fate. They trust us! And the result? My boss gave in. He didn't even have the courage to raise a little objection! In a few days, these 1000 Jews in the hope of church aid will be sent to your camps. Perhaps none will survive at last. They put their lives in our hands, and we let them down! I detest everything happening right now, but what can I do?! I'm not the one who can make decision. That's what my boss does. No matter how hard I try to told them it was wrong to do so, they wouldn't listen. All countries know that it is not we who can change history. We are only ships, and the only thing that can change our direction is the human wind...This feeling of powerlessness, and this sense of guilt make me hard to breathe...”

The holy see bent down, put his hand on his plain writing desk, looked sideways at Gil, his eyes red. The holy see cried. For the first time in his life, Gil saw the holy see crying.

The holy see bent its head. Exhausted by his emotion, he could only speak in a weak voice: “What I just said is obviously disobedience to you, isn’t it? If you want to arrest me, do it. But these words, I never said to anyone. The reason why I would say them out is that the person who is listening is you, Maria...” （ ** **Note: the official name of** Knights of Teutonic Order **is the order of German brethren   of the virgin Mary of Jerusalem**** ）

“I, I...” Gil was frightened out of his wits by the holy see.

“Veneciano slipped away. He must have known about the concentration camps, but Romano hasn’t know. You said you were going to ‘save’ Romano. Is it really right? What if he came back and found out that his people had been sent to those hells by your army, what will happened to him? Do you really want that he hates you?”

“I...” Gil continued to prevaricate, but the holy see turned his back on him and waved his hand.

“Enough. I’m tired. Goodbye, Mr Prussia.”

That night, Gil also left Lud a letter and fled back to Germany. Running away was very normal for Feli, but it was really unheard that Gil would desert his army and flee. The influence of the holy see's words on him was evident.

In his letter to Lud, Gil only wrote a single line: I don't want him to hate me.

After this, Gilbert, the knight who had grown up on the battlefield, abandoned his battles. He silently and bitterly, watched his brother and army retreat one step after another.

In the end, also watched himself drop out of the countries’ lists completely.

**Author's Note:**

> The boss of the holy see mentioned in the fic is not Pius xi, at the time he was already dead. The attitude towards Fascism and Nazism of Pius xi at his last days was the same as that of the holy see in the fic. He knew he had trusted the wrong man, but God didn't give him more time to make it up.


End file.
